


Thicker Than Water

by mznaughty01



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alpha Jared Padalecki, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Drug Dealing, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Jensen, Secrets, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-07 10:09:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13432482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mznaughty01/pseuds/mznaughty01
Summary: They'd known each other for a short period of time, just a brief moment, really, in the grand scheme of things. Their relationship, however, had been a lifetime in the making.(Jared had a secret. And what Jensen didn't know wouldn't hurt him.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. I mean, _wow_. It's been 2 years since the last time I posted something, y'all! You know how it is, blah blah blah, life happened :-)
> 
> Anyway, any who've read my previous works know that I write mostly A/B/O. This fic is no different, though I'm finding myself moving away from those themes now when I think of plots. I'd like to go pro one day annnnd you just don't see a lot of A/B/O in the pro world. But since I started this fic several years ago, I decided to go ahead and finish it up now. Because it was 17,000 words languishing in my WIP pile on my computer where it didn't belong since the word count far exceeded most of my other WIPs (which hover closer to 2,000 words or less).
> 
> Also, watching Dope and Drugs, Inc on Netflix may have sort of inspired me to finish this one up. Fair warning, this isn't a nice world I've written about here, but something I felt compelled to write regardless.

Jared was at it again. Jensen could tell without even looking. He could _feel_ the heavy weight of Jared’s gaze on him, _feel_ those hazel eyes roaming over his body. Boring into him.

While putting away the dishes their younger foster sister Ellie had overlooked while cleaning earlier, Jensen used the opened cabinet door as cover to sneak a quick glance in Jared’s direction. That quick glance confirmed his suspicion. Jared _was_ staring at him. For what probably had to have been the millionth time since they’d met, the tenth time that very day alone.

Since he’d woken up that morning, Jensen had been warm, running a low grade fever. Which made it impossible to shake off Jared’s attention, like he normally would. Knowing that Jared was looking at him, staring at him, just made Jensen even hotter. Twitchy, too.

Jared was new. The latest foster taken in by Samantha Ferris, whose house and big ol’ heart were just the right size to hold five to six of the state’s kids at any given time. Jensen had been with Sam for the past two years. Jared had barely been there two weeks. But in the short time that he had, Jensen had caught Jared eyeing him on numerous occasions. Shielded looks boldly cast from behind shaggy bangs. An animated face carefully devoid of all expression.

Figuring out people and their motives, and figuring them out quickly, had been key to Jensen’s survival. He was safe now, thanks to Sam. But it hadn’t always been that way.

Before Sam, there had been Mr. Benson, Jensen’s foster father...

Before Sam, after Mr. Benson, there had been the month that Jensen had spent out on the streets...

Yeah, Jensen had been forced to learn how to read people at a young age. It was a lesson all Omegas eventually learned, just a part of life. Some Omegas were lucky enough to learn it painlessly, in sheltered environments. Others, like Jensen, learned it as a direct result of placing trust in the wrong people.

Jensen couldn’t get a read on Jared. And that was enough to make him wary.

After slamming the cabinet door shut, Jensen turned towards Jared. Met Jared’s stare head-on as he snarled, “The fuck you looking at?”

Too long hair brushing his forehead, Jared tilted his head to one side. All the better to study Jensen, apparently, like he was an interesting specimen to be figured out. “Nothing.”

Nothing, Jensen’s ass.

In Jensen’s experience, an Alpha showing that much interest in an Omega never ended well. Especially not when the Alpha was sixteen, an age when hormones raged rampant. And not when all that was going on in a body that was already larger than hell, larger than Jensen’s, despite Jensen being the older of the two.

“Yeah, well, make sure you keep it that way,” Jensen said. He fled the kitchen and headed towards the front door, where he picked up his bookbag from the spot on the floor he’d abandoned it the day before. With it slung over a shoulder, he exited the house.

Usually, Jensen waited around for Chad so they could walk to school together. That had been their routine ever since Sam had taken in Chad a couple months after Jensen.

In the beginning, before it became their normal, it had been a good way for Jensen and Chad to get to know each other, something they both considered important after Sam had revealed the state’s records showed that they were related (Jensen’s mother had been the younger sister of Chad’s father). After all, it wasn’t often that Michigan cared enough to reunite separated siblings, much less reunite those who were just cousins, and cousins who’d never known each other at that. Those few and far between times when the state got it right had to be taken advantage of.

For the past two weeks, however, _since Jared’s arrival_ , Jensen had been making the walk to school alone while Chad and Jared, who knew each other, walked together. They didn’t share blood, like Jensen and Chad did, but something that was just as important: history. They’d spent the first ten years of their lives in the same neighborhood, several in the same room of the same house, hung out with the same crew of street kids, watched each other’s back.

That meant they’d had a lot of catching up to do. Who was in jail, who was dead, who’d moved up the ranks, who’d snitched. All info that Jared provided since Chad had been a ward of the state and out of the know for a far longer amount of time, years, than Jared.

With Jared and Chad having become such butt buddies, Jensen was honestly surprised to feel a sharp slap to his ass followed by Chad’s complaint of, “Damn, Jenny, you never spend time with me anymore, man. I’m hurt.”

“That’s because I don’t spend time with assholes who call me Jenny.” But Jensen matched his pace to Chad’s, only after first verifying that Chad’s too tall shadow wasn’t around. “Lose your overgrown puppy? Or did he find a new friend and ditch you? Not that I blame him, of course, if that is the case.”

“No, no and _fuck you_. He has a stop to make.”

Eyebrows raised, Jensen asked, “What could he possibly need to do that can’t wait until _after_ school?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.” A chuckle preceded Chad’s next statement of, “You sure are interested in Jared this morning.” He slung an arm around Jensen’s shoulders. “Have a change of heart about him? Do you love him now? You do, don’t you?” And, in an annoying sing-song, “ _Jenny loooves Jared_.”

With a shrug, Jensen dislodged Chad. “Bite me. Was just asking, s’all. Asshole Alpha will never be my type.”

“Damn good thing I’m a Beta, then, right?”

“If you say so.”

Chad playfully leered at Jensen. “Although I can’t knot that wet hole of yours, at least I still have a shot of fucking it, since I’m not a—how did you put it? Oh, yeah,” he said with a snap of his fingers, “I remember now, _Asshole Alpha_.”

“Gross,” Jensen said, laughing. “Cousins, remember?”

They walked in silence for a few minutes. It was companionable, as always.

Of course, Chad just had to go and ruin it. “Hey, look, Jensen, I know you don’t like Jared, but in all seriousness, I just want you to know that he is a good guy.”

“Uh-huh, okay, whatever.”

“What’s your issue with him, anyway?” Chad stopped walking. When Jensen made to keep going, Chad grabbed his arm, stopping Jensen as well. “Has he said something to you that I don’t know about?”

This wasn’t how Jensen wanted to start his morning. He didn’t feel good, was still hot and getting hotter by the minute. He sighed. “No, Chad, he hasn’t said anything to me.”

Staring at Jensen, Chad waited. When Jensen didn’t add anything further, Chad said, “You have your reasons for not liking him and I get it. If anything does ever go down between you two, you know that I’m here for you, right? That you can come talk to me?”

“I know,” Jensen agreed, softly. “Cousins, remember?” He smirked, because they were getting just a little too sentimental for comfort. “If nothing else, it’ll be entertaining to watch your Beta ass get beat good by an Alpha.”

“Ha, ha. Laugh it up, but I know from personal experience with Jared that I’m getting in _at least_ two solid face shots before I go down.” Chad shoulder checked Jensen, then started walking again. “Let’s go, pretty boy, time to get to school.”

*

Shit! Jared couldn’t believe it. To say he was in a good mood was a fucking understatement. The grin on his face was a permanent fixture right now.

The supply meeting with Pelligrino had gone down almost seamlessly. There’d been some haggling between JD and Pelligrino, to get the latter to lower his price which JD insisted on considering how much product he was buying, but all in all, things had gone down in accordance with JD’s plans. Exactly how Jared wanted.

And, now? Now, Jared and Chad were the owners of one of the kilos that JD had purchased. A whole fucking kilo! Twenty-five thousand dollars’ worth of the highest quality Peruvian coke stashed away in the bag strapped tight to Jared’s back. It would retail for four times as much, once broken down.

After paying back JD the money he’d fronted Jared and Chad, plus fifty percent of the profits (which was a motherfucking steal, JD had been sure to let Jared know), next week Jared and Chad, and their crew, would have enough to buy their own ki—

“Back the fuck away from me, dickwad.”

Just like that, Jared’s good mood evaporated. He knew that voice.

Jared changed paths, turning right to enter the hallway where upperclassmen lockers were housed rather than the left that would’ve led him to his third period. Hell, he’d already missed his first two classes of the day. Being late to the next wasn’t going to do any harm.

Besides, seeing what was going on with Jensen was of far more importance than continuing on with an education that Jared didn’t need. Jared had been looking for an _in_ with Jensen for a while now, for far longer than the two weeks they’d been living in the same house together, and he’d rather pursue this promising potential than put any effort into changing his Ds and Fs to something more respectable. Especially given that the school year was already done with for the most part, just a little over a month to go. He knew the important basics, the three Rs, had picked those up years ago: **r** eading, w **r** iting and ‘ **r** ithmetic.

How to avoid life or death situations, how to keep calm when faced with them, how to make money— _those_ were the subjects that Jared placed value in above all else along with other lessons that had been taught by JD. Far as Jared was concerned? Fuck the Detroit Public School system, all the remedial courses he’d been enrolled in and his do gooder teachers’ goals of cramming into his head the ten years’ or so worth of bullshit he’d missed out on while he’d been busy gaining street knowledge and cred. He wouldn’t be back next year.

Half a second was all Jared needed to size up the situation with Jensen. An Alpha he vaguely recognized from seeing around school campus had a pissed off Jensen hemmed up against a locker. He was either a Junior or a Senior. Possibly a jock, though Jared doubted the guy ever put energy towards anything as positive as sports.

“Not gonna happen,” the guy said. “Only one reason for you come to school smelling like this, Ackles. While in heat.”

Shoulder leaned against the wall, Jared watched the unfolding scene. He was to the side of Jensen and the guy, at an angle that prevented them from seeing him. If needed, however, he was close enough and ready to jump in before things went too far, like before the guy touched Jensen, but he wanted to see how it all played out first before he intervened. On the average day, Jensen was one step past feisty, much closer to mean, and amusing as fuck to watch. Like a wet, mad, hissing, _mad_ kitten. The only ones truly safe from caustic lashings of his vicious tongue were Sam and the youngest three of her foster children. Chad even often found himself on the receiving end.

“You think—” Jensen began, voice dripping sarcasm, “—you actually think that I want that shriveled up walnut between your legs that you call a knot? You _can’t_ be serious.”

And, whelp, that went south fast. Before the guy could lay a hand on Jensen, Jared was there, between them, latched onto the wrist of the arm the guy had drawn back to strike Jensen. “Nah, dude, I don’t think so.”

The guy tried, unsuccessfully, to snatch himself out of Jared’s grip. “Get the fuck off me.”

Jared let go, but remained in front of Jensen. “I did what you said. Now walk away.”

Chest rising up and down with short, angry breaths, the guy said, “Right after I—”

“I’m not letting you put hands on my brother.” One step forward and Jared was all up in the guy’s personal space, chest-to-chest with him. “Walk. Away.”

“Brother? Oh, you another one of Ferris’s foster brats?” Top lip curled up in a sneer, the guy said, “I don’t need this shit. Word to the wise, though, tell Ferris to keep this bitch home the next time he goes into heat.” The guy backed away. “Because next time he might not be so lucky. You can’t be around all the time, after all, can you. But I might be. And if I am...”

Just barely keeping it together, Jared remained where he was. He didn’t move until the guy was no longer in sight. Even then, it was only the sound of Jensen’s voice which stopped him from following and bashing in the guy’s skull.

“Brother?” Jensen said from behind him.

Breathing out a sigh, Jared turned to face Jensen. To find... Jensen glaring at him. The usual. “According to the state of Michigan, we _are_ foster brothers. Just in case you hadn’t actually noticed.”

“Kinda hard to miss your big ass lounging everywhere around the house that I live in, just in case _you_ hadn’t actually noticed.”

Surprised at Jensen’s quip, Jared let out a little laugh. And, for the first time since he’d laid eyes on Jensen, Jared found himself the recipient of something that Jensen usually saved for Sam, Chad or one of the other foster kids. 

A smile.

It was small and hesitant, reserved, but there was no mistaking that it was there. For Jared.

Despite how much he wanted to touch Jensen, Jared forced himself to shove his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. He watched the flush on Jensen’s neck creep upwards to stain his cheeks. Sweat dotted Jensen’s forehead, just below his hairline, one bead breaking free to roll down and get caught by an eyebrow.

Jensen was gorgeous like this, in this state that indicated he was ready for a good fucking, ready to be knotted, tied. Mated. Subtle, Jared inhaled deeply, got a nose full of Jensen’s candy sweet scent. Savored it. Before remembering their relationship, remembering that he wasn’t _supposed_ to want Jensen that way. Ever.

After clearing his throat, Jared said, “I could smell your heat coming on first thing this morning. Why _did_ you come to school today?”

And, fuck, one step forward, two gigantic leaps back.

Jensen’s face instantly shuttered. “You one of those big, bad Alpha types who thinks that Omegas should stay home while in heat, Jared? So that we don’t go and give you all a bullshit reason to rape us?” He placed his hands in the center of Jared’s chest and shoved Jared backwards. “Should’ve known you’d be the same type of asshole as our friend Aaron there that you just scared off. I know Michigan is ass backwards and all, but why the fuck don’t all you goddamn fucking asshole Alphas just accept that it was proven way back in the eighteen hundreds—”

“Whoa, Jen, slow down.” Jared yanked his hands out of his pockets and held them up in the air, palms out. Placating. “That’s not what I meant. I just—I just figured you’d be more comfortable at home, in bed. Especially since the school _has_ to excuse your heat absences.”

That, apparently, was the right thing to say. Jensen’s anger just sort of seeped out of him. “Yeah, yeah, I guess that I should’ve just stayed home.” He tipped his head backwards, resting it on the locker behind him. “It’s just, it’s just that this heat caught me completely off guard. Two weeks early when it always comes on time. Every ninety days on the dot from the end of one to the beginning of the next. Never, ever late. Never, ever early.”

“Huh,” Jared huffed under his breath, only loud enough for himself to hear. His mind wanted to dissect that piece of information, although Jared knew that what he was thinking shouldn’t be possible. “Wanna go back? I can walk you there.”

“You already missed the first two periods, didn’t you? Just gonna miss out on the whole day?”

“I had to, uh—”

“Make a stop, I heard.” Jensen’s tone was wry. “Chad already told me. You do know that Sam doesn’t hold with skipping school, don’t you?”

A smile spread across Jared’s face. “Worried about me?”

“No, knothead, I’m worried about Sam and you raising her blood pressure.” Jensen rolled his eyes, but the corner of his lips were tilted upwards in amusement. “And who told you that you can call me Jen?”

“I told myself.” Impulsively, Jared grabbed hold to one of Jensen’s wrists and brought it to his mouth for a brief kiss, before tugging to get Jensen moving. “And I’m worried about you so I’m going to get you out of here and back home and in bed. I’m just missing one day. Sam’ll understand, she’ll be alright.”

“Yeah, okay, but I need to grab my—”

“I’ll text Chad to bring your shit with him later, when he comes home.”

*

By the time they hit the front door of their house, Jensen was a wet, dripping mess. The walk had been made mostly in silence, which Jensen was extremely thankful for as he wouldn’t have been able to maintain a conversation if his life had depended on it, much less try to start one. He was even more grateful that, despite how the past two weeks had gone between them, he hadn’t felt strained or uncomfortable around Jared.

Well, he hadn’t felt strained or uncomfortable with the exception of his too hot body pouring off bucket loads of sweat in a futile attempt to cool itself down. He also couldn’t forget the unpleasantness of his ass starting to leak slick somewhere around the halfway point of their journey.

But Jared had been cool through it all. He hadn’t made any crude comments, or touched Jensen, even though Jensen’s heat _had_ to be affecting him almost as much as it affected Jensen himself. There had been occasional glances thrown in Jensen’s direction, but that was it, and Jensen could sense no ill will behind them. Just open, honest curiosity as to how Jensen was doing or something.

Most Alphas, Alphas like Aaron, still liked to act as if it was okay to do what they wanted to Omegas who, in their fucked opinions, had the audacity to come out in public while in heat. But an act was all that it was. No doubt, an Omega in heat smelled a hundred times nicer to an Alpha, tempted them, pushed them into walking a fine line of control. But not to the point where if they tipped over to the wrong side their higher brain functions just completely shut down, overruled by the need to _knotknotknot_.

Because that was illegal. Rape. Proven as fact beyond all question back in the eighteen hundreds by a prominent Beta doctor.

Unfortunately, the world was still mostly run by Alphas. Who sometimes saw no problem with looking the other way when it came to their brethren’s seriously questionable actions regarding Omegas. Happy to make excuses when laws were broken (because they knew their brethren would return the favors), finding all the loopholes to exploit to their mutual benefits.

Jared was... Jared was different. Jensen could see that now. Could see that he’d pegged Jared wrong from the start. Had seen it with each and every dark alley they’d walked by that Jared hadn’t shoved Jensen into so that he could knot Jensen’s ass.

Jensen stroked the sensitive inner skin of his right wrist, the same spot that Jared had kissed. Chad had been right. Jared was a good guy.

“Thanks,” Jensen said when Jared handed him a cold bottle of water. He’d just returned from dropping off his bookbag in his shared room with Chad. Rather than drinking it, Jensen closed his eyes and rolled it along his forehead. Enjoyed the cool reprieve it provided to his heat flushed skin.

“So...” Jared asked, “what now?”

And wasn’t that a question Jensen would prefer to not deal with. Now it was time for Jensen to suffer for hours and hours until his heat broke. It would take three days.

Three. Whole. Fucking. Days. Of being hot. Of being hard. Of being wet.

Heats were easier when spent with Alphas, something Jensen knew from personal experience, unfortunate as it had been, let Omegas retain their senses during a time that was otherwise just mindless want for them. Betas could get Omegas through their heats. Omegas could also get each other through, to a limited extent, as could women. But the truth was that without an Alpha, without an Alpha’s knot and scent, that second day was always, always, always so much worse.

And the third? Jensen suppressed a shudder.

Jensen didn’t exactly have the option available to him of an Alpha fucking him through this. He opened his eyes. Locked gazes with Jared.

Well, maybe...

No. No, he did not. Not an option.

After screwing off the cap of the bottled water, Jensen took a long drink. Swished the water around his mouth while he thought how to respond. After swallowing, “You don’t know? Skip out on health class, too? Every day for the whole semester in sixth grade as well as anatomy in seventh and—”

“Smart ass. I know the basics.” Jared smiled, cheeks dimpled deep.

“Well, the specifics ain’t all that exciting. Now I get to go spend a whole lot of unpleasant me time alone in my room.” Under his breath, Jensen groused, “Can’t fucking wait.” Taking advantage of the last few minutes of peace he would know for the near future, Jensen took his time finishing off the water, then tossed the empty into the trash can.

Hot. He was so hot already. Too hot. Right there in the kitchen, Jensen stripped off his t-shirt and let it fall to the ground. But he knew that restraint could only be pushed so far, so he immediately headed for the hallway, leaving Jared behind. The short walk to his room was spent unbuckling his belt, thumbing open the button to his jeans and unzipping them. Soon as he stepped into his room, Jensen skinned his jeans down his legs. Kicked them off.

It wasn’t until he turned to shut his door that he realized Jared had followed him in, Jensen’s shirt clutched in a fist. “You can just throw that down anywhere.”

Jared tossed it to the floor. “I was serious out there. What now?”

The heat was already fucking with Jensen’s brain. He didn’t know what Jared was offering. Couldn’t figure out _if_ Jared was offering anything at all. “Jared, you know that, uh, you know that we can’t—”

“I know. Don’t want inappropriate relationships to be the reason one of us, which will probably be me if we’re being real here, ends up shipped back to a group home or placed in another house.”

“Exactly.”

“But how do you normally get through your heats?” With a sweep of his hand, Jared indicated Jensen’s room, then asked, “Do you have toys hidden away in here somewhere to make it better or something?”

“Sam doesn't—”

“ _Sam doesn’t hold with providing the Omegas in her care with toys to get through their heats_? Please don’t tell me that that’s what you’re getting ready to tell me.”

The snort which escaped Jensen was loud. “No, Sam sticks to the state’s rules to the letter, she’s good like that, and the state doesn’t hold with foster parents giving their Omegas dildos. Birth control either, for that matter.”

Shock cloaked Jared’s face. “Really? Why the fuck not?”

“Michigan, man.”

“Ass backwards and full of goddamn fucking asshole Alphas.” Jared stepped fully into the room and kicked the door shut behind him. “So, hey, here’s the thing. I think that you went into heat because of me, because I’m around you all the time now. Morning, noon and night. I think I triggered it.”

A blob of slick squirted out of Jensen, wet his already wet asshole even more. This surprise heat was Jensen’s body saying: _Yo, idiot, highly compatible Alpha nearby. I’mma help you out_. “I honestly think that you may be right.”

“I can help, Jensen.”

“Jared—”

“Listen, you know that I spent a lot of time surviving the streets. You learn things while out there, know what I mean.”

Jensen released a shuddering breath, hopeful. Maybe he could get some relief this heat. Maybe... just maybe he could have Jared in some way. “Like how to help Omegas through heats without being caught knotting them for hours by concerned foster moms?”

“Pretty much,” Jared confirmed. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. I’ve done it before with other Omegas and it’s never meant anything. I just helped them out, so that their heats wouldn’t be so intense. Just, I just wanna help you out the same way. I wanna do this for you, Jen. _Let_ me do this for you.”

“All right.” Clad in just his soaked boxer briefs, Jensen sat on the edge of his little twin sized bed, one of a pair in the room. Since he was the only Omega currently in the house, the room was all his. Despite any appearance to the opposite given by Ellie’s and Brooklyn’s dolls spread all over his floor, left over from his playtime with the girls the night before. Everyone was gone for the day, the kids at school and Sam at work. They wouldn’t be interrupted. “Okay.”

“The key is in forcing your body into thinking its’ being knotted without actually knotting you. I can do that.”

“How?”

Jared walked towards the bed. “Move over to the other edge, on your side, and I’ll show you.”

Once Jensen was in place, his front side smooshed right up against the cool wall, because his bed was just not big enough for him and Jared both, he felt warmth along the full length behind him, the scratchiness of Jared’s clothes, the hard line of his cock, as Jared also lied down. Jared hooked a finger in the back of Jensen’s underwear and tugged. Ass lifted, Jensen hissed as the elastic band of his boxer briefs caught on the sensitive head of his cock, pulling it down and, after it was freed, causing it to snap up and slap his belly.

Mistaking the sound as some sort of reluctance, Jared said, “It’s okay. Doesn’t have to mean anything, remember? I helped out Omegas who I viewed as my brothers, who I still view as my kin. It’s necessary out there. Being caught up in the full throes of a heat without an Alpha to ease it could mean death, or worse, if an enemy comes along at the wrong time.” Jared eased an arm under Jensen’s head, pulled Jensen close. “Doesn’t have to mean anything.”

But what if... “What if I _do_ want it to mean something?”

Hot breath caressing Jensen’s skin, Jared whispered, “Then it can mean whatever we want it to.”

Two hot, thick fingers slid up the cleft of Jensen’s ass, made him whimper. He spread his legs to provide easier access. Sucked in a deep gulp of air full of _Jared_ when those fingers pushed inside of him.

“You’re so fucking wet,” Jared groaned. “You were made for this, made to take a knot, _my_ knot.”

Those two fingers quickly increased to three, then four. All pushing, shoving, stroking inside Jensen. Jensen fucked himself on them.

It wasn’t enough.

“More,” he gasped. “Jared, I need, I need _more_.”

There was an intense amount of pressure as Jensen felt himself stretched almost to the point of discomfort. Then there was the fullness he was so desperate for. A knot. Jared had _knotted_ him.

Jared set his teeth on Jensen’s neck and just that hint of a mating mark sent a spark of pleasure surging through Jensen’s body, sharp and bright. Involuntarily, Jensen’s back arched, giving Jared full access to his neck. The resultant tug on his rim pushed him right over the edge. Come spurted out of his dick, splattering the wall in front of him and his belly with streaks of white.

Distantly, Jensen heard Jared say, “Jesus, baby, you took it all. My whole fist. My whole fist is in you. I can feel you squeezing it. Your greedy little hole would milk the shit out of my knot, wouldn’t it. Just suck the come right out, milk me dry. Wanna make you mine so bad. _Gonna_ make you mine one day.”

As Jensen came down from his high, he could already feel the difference. He was cooler, that insistent need inside his body still present, but now just a banked warmth. His heat had abated, satisfied for now, tricked into submission by Jared’s scent and fist.

Gently, Jared slipped his hand free of Jensen’s ass. Jensen flipped onto his back, discontent not only by the emptiness of Jared no longer filling him but also by the distinct lack of a mating mark on his neck. He watched Jared clean his fingers on a towel that he’d picked up off the floor.

“Do you want me to...” Jensen gestured towards Jared’s crotch, which was a big, unfulfilled bulge.

“This was for you, not me.” Jared flicked the towel down on the end of Jensen’s bed once he was done with it. “Want me to come back later? Before dinner maybe so we can do it again?”

Jensen nodded.

True to his word, Jared came for a repeat right before dinner, so that when Chad brought Jensen his own meal that night, Jensen could actually enjoy it a little, still holed up as he was in his room to prevent suspicion as to how he was up and about at all while in heat. Jared also came during the middle of the night. Before he went to school the next day. And as soon as he got home.

Every time Jensen needed Jared over the three days of his heat, needed relief, Jared was there to provide it. Never once did he take Jensen up on his offer to return the favor, though Jensen asked each time.

When Jensen’s heat finally broke, it was with a startling revelation: Jensen was maybe just a little in love with Jared. Just the littlest, tiniest bit.


	2. Chapter 2

Jared dug the plastic wrapped bundle of coke out from the back of the closet he shared with Chad, from where it had been hidden for days beneath a pile of their dirty clothes. As he backed out, he glanced over at just the right moment to see the strained expression on Chad’s face, an expression he’d seen several times now as of recent. Despite Chad trying his damndest to hide it and act like everything was cool between them.

“What?” Jared asked as he slid the brick into his backpack.

Caught off guard, Chad tried to school his expression into its normal affableness, getting close but still off by a mile. His eyes were shifty, sliding off to the side, to Jared, to the floor, back to Jared. “What do you mean _what_?”

“Just like it sounded.” Bag zipped up and hoisted onto a shoulder, Jared gave Chad his full attention. “Something’s obviously crawled up your ass, so I’m trying to figure out what it is before we go out here and do this.”

“Nothing—”

“Cut the bullshit, Chad. We’re heading back to our old ‘hood tonight, and I know it’s been a while since the last time Your Highness was able to visit, but you do remember how it is out there, right? Or have you forgotten? Forgotten that not completely trusting the person at your side is how you get dead? You have a problem with me, so let’s deal with it here, now, before going back to visit home-sweet-home.”

Chad swiped a hand down his face. Then met Jared’s gaze. Time for business. “It’s just...” he started, then swallowed deeply before finishing, “...Jensen.”

“What about him?”

“I’ve been here, living in this house with Jensen for two years now, Jay. After his first few heats, Sam has let me take care of him during them, since we’re family and all and since I’m, y’know, a Beta. Just the usual stuff, like making sure the sheets get changed, making sure he eats enough, drinks enough. I bathe him when needed.”

“And?”

“And this time was different. This time Jensen was able to hold a conversation with me. Several, in fact. All through his heat.”

“Not very often than an in heat Omega can do that, huh.”

“Not unless... not unless they’ve been knotted by an Alpha.”

_Goddamn Jensen_. Just couldn’t keep his pretty mouth shut. Play it off. Act like nothing about this heat was different than all the ones that had come before it.

Jared could pussy foot around with Chad, to keep shit good between them for the moment, which wasn’t really his style. Or he could be upfront and just get it all out in the open now, to keep shit good between them in the long run, an option he found infinitely more preferable. “Just go ahead and ask me what it is that you really wanna know.”

Shoulders squared, Chad asked, “You fuck him?”

Both Jared and JD had been sure that these last six years Chad had been off the streets and in the custody of the state and foster care had, while softened wasn’t quite the right word, they were sure that Chad had lost the edge he used to have, the edge that had been necessary for survival. This little confrontation was shaping up to be very interesting. The edge was still there... just not as sharp.

“You can get your panties out of a twist, princess. I didn’t fuck him.”

Not with his dick and knot, he hadn’t, despite how much he’d really, _really_ wanted to. And that was the most important thing here.

They filed out the house, calling out to Sam just before the door shut behind them that they would be home later, in time for curfew, Friday night, just hanging out with friends. Which wasn’t a lie, exactly. Misha, Chris, Aldis and Danneel were friends, just friends from _before_. From before Child Protective Services had caught Jared while he was out making a run for JD eight months ago and placed him in the system after realizing he didn’t have a birth certificate, a social security number or a legal guardian that was recognized by the law, all unfortunate circumstances of his birth. From before JD had received that five year jail term six years back, resulting in CPS becoming involved with Chad, his only child.

Even from behind bars, JD had been able to pull strings to eventually have Chad placed with Sam, a woman who came from the streets of Detroit herself. Who was well-known to be nothing but good to the children entrusted to her care. Who JD knew and trusted even if she refused to have anything to do with him or let him have anything to do with his child, with her knowledge, after JD had been released. Those same strings had also been pulled for Jensen, a couple months before Chad, once JD’s lawyer had unraveled and pieced together the incomplete and total mess that was Jensen’s history with Social Services and only after Jensen had been tracked down to the abandoned building in MS-13 territory where he’d been squatting since running from his last foster placement. They’d been pulled for Jared, too, years after Chad and Jensen.

Family took care of family. The Morgan Motto.

Chad let the subject of Jensen drop, right up until they were standing on the corner way down the street, and out of sight of Sam’s house, waiting for Chris and Aldis to pick them up. That was when he asked, “What happened?”

It took extreme effort to prevent irritation from bleeding into his voice when Jared replied, “Why you so worried about it?”

“Because I’ve been keeping your secret from him, too, _cousin_. You owe me an explanation.”

Jared blew out an exasperated breath. “It wasn’t like that, okay.”

“Wasn’t like what?”

“Like whatever fucked up shit you’ve dreamed up over there. It was—I just helped him out, that’s all.”

How was Jared supposed to explain this to Chad, make Chad understand? Chad had been taken when he and Jared were both only ten, a few years before Misha had gone through his first heat and had to be taken care of from then on out by Jared and Chris, the Alphas of their little ragtag group. Being there, going through it, being an Alpha or an Omega—one just automatically _knew_ the whys, no explanation required.

But Jared had to try. It wasn’t Chad’s fault that he’d become an outsider in some extremely noticeable ways. “Matt Cohen.”

“Dark hair. Pretty eyes. Prettier smile. Sexy as fuck. What about him?”

“Thanks for reminding me, _yet again_ , how hard you used to perv on him.” The laughter between them was their first genuine exchange in days, since the start of Jensen’s heat.

“I still can’t believe that you got to live with him while JD was off doing that time. I’m jealous, bro. I'm ready to just straight up admit it now. I’m jealous.”

“Y’know, if you’d been out there for just a few years longer, he would’ve done you, man, would’ve been your first. He’s kinky like that.”

Chad’s smile decreased from a big, open grin to something more reserved and sad. “Yeah, maybe if I had been out there for just a little longer. What did you say he’s up to now?”

“I never did, but he’s still around, out the game, but still around. And he’s still not mated. You could probably hit that now.” With a friendly shove to Chad’s shoulder, Jared added, “Finally.”

“Maybe. So... what about him?”

“You remember that he’s an Omega.” Jared waited for Chad’s nod to continue, “And you know that back in the day he used to basically be JD’s right hand man, for all intents and purposes.” He waited for Chad’s nod again. “Ever thought about how he made some damn important calls on JD’s behalf whenever JD wasn’t around, even during his heats? But how he never had a mate, never sported a claiming mark and how the smell of Alpha on him at any given time was faint at the most?”

“I was ten back then, man, no, I never thought about any of that. All I was worried about was how to sneak a touch of his package without ending up with a black eye for my trouble.”

“Well, he did make decisions during his heats. Big ones. All the time.”

The words hung in the air between them for long, silent seconds. Until Chad said, “All right, I’ll bite. How?”

“Him and Ty, man, that’s how.”

“ _Uncle Ty_?”

“The one and only.”

“Ty used to bone Matt during his heats?” Chad was starting to look like he’d been sucking on a lemon, like he’d just gotten a good mouthful of sour juice and pulp.

And, because Jared was an asshole, he admitted, “Sometimes JD did, too, if he happened to be around.”

“Dude, no, seriously, _dude_.” Disgust was the only word to accurately describe the grimace that twisted Chad’s face all up. “Matt and JD? Like, JD as in my dad JD? Aw, c’mon, man, you just tainted my childhood crush. Completely ruined it.”

Not one to let a chance like this pass, Jared laughed at Chad’s pain. Eventually, he sobered and said, “On the real, though, neither Ty nor your pops ever fucked or knotted Matt, far as I know. It wasn’t like that. They just helped him out.”

“Like how you helped out Jensen?”

“Exactly.” Jared bobbed his head in assent, then smirked. “If you want, I could tell you all about how—”

“ _No_ ,” Chad stressed. “Just, no. Keep that shit to yourself. You’ve scarred me enough for one day. I trust you. You helped Jensen out and you somehow managed to do it _without_ your knot. Got it.”

They spent the next few minutes bullshitting around while waiting for their ride. Six years away from each other had changed their relationship, put some distance between them when they’d once been inseparable, the two amigos. Day-by-day, however, that distance was being whittled down just a little bit more, the fragileness of their bond strengthening. Things would never be as they once had between them, but it felt like they were on track to something that would be just as good, if not better.

And that was the only reason Jared didn’t snap Chad’s head off as they climbed into the backseat of Chris’s old Bronco, when Chad quietly said from behind him, “You need to tell him.”

Jared knew that already. But Jensen had just started tolerating him, so Jared wasn’t exactly all that eager to fuck shit up just yet by telling him, _Yo, guess what, bro, we have the same parents. Same mother, same father. Yep, that’s right, I meant that bro as in literally._

Sarah and Jeb had let the state take Jensen. Hadn’t ever gotten their shit together enough to fight to get him back before it was too late, before Sarah had overdosed and Jeb had eaten one of JD’s bullets for supplying the bad batch of heroin that had killed her. But they’d kept Jared. Had opted for Sarah to give birth to him on a filthy mattress in the basement of a drug house so that they wouldn’t have to deal with hospital case workers who would’ve confiscated him, too.

It was a wonder that Jared hadn’t been born addicted, considering JD had once told him Sarah shot up all the time while pregnant with him. A wonder that he’d survived the youngest years of his childhood at all and the thanks for that was solely JD’s doing, since he was the one to finally take Jared from his parents. He’d given Jared a roof over his head and food in his belly, but hadn’t really been around enough to be considered a substitute father, especially not after catching that five year sentence. The only consistent parent Jared and Chad had both known back then were the streets and she hadn’t been nurturing or caring, just a tough ass bitch.

But Jared knew Jensen would twist shit all up. Would see Jared as the beloved child. Anyone would. Just the natural progression for Jensen to equate the whole situation of Jared being the one their parents kept with Jared being the one they loved.

That wasn’t the case, though. Jared knew the truth.

His memories of Sarah and Jeb were vague, faded with time, but Jared still remembered some things in sharp detail. Like the first few years of his life being filled with yelling and screaming. Hard slaps to the face. Dirty needles and trash littered floors.

Truth was, their parents hadn’t been capable of loving anyone but themselves and each other, and the second only in the biblical sense. They hadn’t loved Jared any more or Jensen any less. They’d just let them live different lives, was all. Arguably, one’s life hadn’t been any better, or worse, than the other’s.

Then there was the whole other matter of Jensen going into heat for Jared. Of Jared wanting to fuck him through it. Mate him. Things that never should’ve happened. They were _brothers_ , for fuck’s sake. Regardless that they were also Alpha and Omega, biology just was not supposed to work like that for relatives, not those with such close blood ties.

Jared could imagine, but _truly_ didn’t want to, the horror on Jensen’s face once he knew the full truth.

As Chad settled into the seat next to Jared, he asked, “Yo, Jay, man, you hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard you,” Jared responded. He eyed Chad, wondering if he knew that Jensen’s heat had been early this time around and the reason _why_.

Then, the revelry of Chris and Aldis hooting and hollering took over any further talk of Jensen. A very fond, heartfelt and deserved welcome for Chad. It wasn’t every day, after all, that the crown prince of the Morgans came back home after being gone for six years.

*

Jensen waited until the last possible moment to drag his ass out of bed, get dressed and head down the hall to the kitchen. He’d been awake for a while, ever since Sam had knocked on his door. At least fifteen to twenty minutes had to have gone by since then.

Sundays. They were the worst. His dedicated day to help Sam with food preparation and to clean the dishes afterwards. In total, there were seven mouths to feed, with three of those belonging to Jensen, Chad and Jared, all growing teenage boys. That meant a lot of fucking food for breakfast and even more for dinner.

Only reason Jensen didn’t completely hate Sundays was because Sam did let him slack off for one of the meals, normally lunch. Sam believed in fair, so each of the other kids had their own scheduled day to help her Monday through Friday, with Saturday being the sole day where she took care of everything herself. And since school served lunch on everyone else’s day, Sam didn’t require Jensen to be the only one with a bigger load.

Besides, Sam could cook. Sunday dinners were big affairs that, in and of themselves, were a damn good reason to appreciate the day.

No sooner had Jensen slipped into the kitchen, still half asleep, because any time before seven in the morning on a weekend day was just way too damn early to be up doing anything, than Sam put him to work. It took him dropping egg number two on the linoleum floor for her to find some other way for him to help instead.

“We’re out of milk and you’ve drunk up all the orange juice again,” she said in her deep, husky voice. “Grab a ten out the money jar and head to the store, hun.”

“In other words, get out your kitchen?” Jensen teased.

“In other words, get your ass out my kitchen.”

Money in hand, Jensen stepped out onto the front porch. He ruffled Cal’s hair when the kid stuck his head out the door after him, eliciting an annoyed mumble and a quick retreat. Cal was in the seventh grade, an awkward year for kids if there ever was one, so Jensen went out of his way to connect with his youngest foster brother. Considering that, other than Sam, Jensen was the only person to ever be treated to Cal’s gap toothed smile, he was positive that he’d found some measure of success. Jared and Chad only ever got puberty laced Alpha growls from him and the girls were ignored completely.

A few seconds after the door slammed shut behind Cal, it opened again. Out came Jared this time, sporting bedhead and his rumpled clothes from the day before. Overall, he looked about as awake as Jensen felt. Going by the strong scent of mint wafting off him, at least he’d brushed his teeth, something Chad regularly didn’t bother with until after noon on the weekends. There had been many a time that Chad had gotten all up in Jensen’s face after breakfast, his ass breath kicking off their conversations.

“Late night?” Jensen asked, though he already knew it hadn’t been. It was damn near impossible for late nights with a curfew of ten. While in his room, Jensen had heard Jared and Chad hit the front door just in time for the second night in a row. Hadn’t been able to sleep until he’d known they were back.

“More like too early of a morning.”

“Sure the fuck is.” The porch’s boards were worn and Jensen scuffed a boot over one. Watched the faded white paint flake and chip off. He was procrastinating and knew it. Better to just get this trip over and done with, no matter how much he dreaded it. Rather than take the stairs, he leaped down off the porch to the grass below and started off in the direction of the corner store. “Hey,” he said, turning to face Jared, walking backwards a few steps, “I have to run to the store for Sam. Wanna come with me?”

“Sure.”

Side-by-side, they made their way down the street, Jared kicking rocks off the sidewalk every so often. God, it felt like Jared had been made to be there, made to be at Jensen’s side. It was just so easy between them now, even though they hadn’t really spoken much over the past few days, just traded smiles, Jensen’s shy, Jared’s big, open and happy. Jensen knew his thoughts were incredibly sappy. And that they probably had less to do with God’s grand plan of them being mates and more to do with a certain circumstance forcing this closeness on them.

Because _fisting_.

“You got us caught,” Jared eventually said. When Jensen looked over at him in panic, it was only to find Jared smiling. “You sure do got a big ass mouth.”

“What? I didn’t say anything. Only person I even saw during my heat was—” Oh. Damn. Jensen _had_ talked to Chad, at a time when he shouldn’t have been able to talk to anyone. “My bad. Did Chad, is he, do I need to—”

“Nah, he’s cool. Just, next time, next time we’ll have to be more careful.”

“Next time? So...” Jensen trailed off, then slowly asked, “You really wanna do that again?”

“Yeah, I do. And I meant what I said, too.”

_Then it can mean whatever we want it to._

_Wanna make you mine so bad._ Gonna _make you mine one day._

“Which part?”

Jared winked at Jensen. “All of it.”

Jensen rubbed the back of his neck. The skin there was warm under his palm, though he wasn’t sure if that was a result of the sun or the spark of arousal that just shot through him. “Next one should be sometime in mid-July.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

“Why’s that?”

They walked a little bit more before Jared finally answered. “Because it seems as though your next heat will be a seventeenth birthday gift for me. Couldn’t think of a better one to ask for.”

Face flaming, Jensen ducked his head. All too soon, though, his light mood caused by their flirtation was overtaken by his building anxiety.

There was a certain street that had to be passed to get to the store, very close to where the store itself was located. It was coming up, Jensen could already see it, and his breath ratcheted up higher, became erratic. It always did every time he came anywhere near this particular street, regardless that he didn’t have to make the walk down it anymore, that he would never have to walk down it ever again. To the yellow, two story house that was about a half mile down, on the right.

Jensen was safe now. He was safe. He was safe. And, because it couldn’t be repeated often enough, _He was safe_.

But he still remembered what happened in that house. Would always remember.

“Tell me about your first time,” he demanded. It was while making this same walk that he’d heard all about Chad’s first time. By the end of Chad’s tale (something involving a former foster sister named Cindy, cool whip, Band Aids and, strangely enough, a stuffed kitten and fire ants), Jensen had been laughing. Purpose served.

If Jared suspected anything, he didn’t say. “I was ten and it was with this Omega named Brock who was, I don’t know, thirteen or fourteen at the time. I’d had the biggest crush on him for forever, man, like you don’t even know how bad I was gone. He was so sweet and pretty and looked a little like you, actually.” A long pause while Jared was lost in his memories. “Anyway, I was sitting outside on the front stoop one day when he walked by. And his scent, fuck, it just hit me.”

“He was in heat?”

“Yeah, and, I mean, I’d been around Omegas before right as they were going into heat, before they ended up locked away safe and off limits, either by their own choice or by their Alphas, but it had always been much older Omegas. Which, don’t get me wrong—”

“They’d still smelled good.”

“But they’d never smelled like Brock.” Jared’s hand brushed against the back of Jensen’s.

They were at the street now. Unable to help himself, Jensen laced their fingers together, held on tight. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you, but only if you tell me what’s wrong first.”

“ _Nothing. There’s nothing wrong_.” But Jensen realized the words had come out too quick. That they’d sounded too desperate. He cleared his throat. “I just wanna know what happened next, s’all.”

Jared shot Jensen a hard look before he started talking again. “I took him upstairs to the room that I used to share with Chad, but I jimmied the door shut so that Chad couldn’t get in. Man, he was so pissed when he came home that night, when he realized that I was having sex before him. I would’ve let him in if I’d known then that those CPS fuckers would get their hands on him the very next week. Even though Chad’s a Beta, Brock was down.”

“You didn’t mate him?” The question was silly, given Jared’s age at the time, but Jensen was more absorbed in crossing the street than the words coming out of his mouth.

“No, but I did ride out his full heat with him up in that hot ass room. Tied him so many times, it was ridiculous.”

“So why didn’t you mate him?”

“I was ten, Jensen.”

Legs eating up the pot hole marked pavement quick as possible, Jensen sad, “Oh.”

“Brock had dreams, y’know, big dreams of getting out the ‘hood, going to college. Dreams that he’s living right now at Penn State. Those dreams were the reason he fucked a ten year old for relief to begin with. I was young, and while I wasn’t innocent, not even back then, he knew that he didn’t have to worry about me trying to mate him, get him pregnant or hooked on drugs and pimped out. Brock trusted me. Also? He didn’t smell like you.”

And now the street was behind them. Only then did Jensen allow himself to focus on Jared’s words. “ _Say what now_?”

“I said, he didn’t smell like you.”

“Funny,” Jensen muttered, nervous, still amped, “that’s exactly what I thought you just said.”

“I want you to trust me, Jensen, the same way that Brock did.” Much too intuitive, Jared shifted the subject from himself and right on over to Jensen when he said, “And you can start by telling me who _your_ first time was with.”

The knot forming in his throat was huge, prevented Jensen from speaking. No one had ever asked him that before. He didn’t know how to answer. Without permission, his eyes darted down the street that was a few steps behind them, still much too close.

“That’s what I thought.” Jared nodded, decisive. “Who lives on that street?”

But Jensen still couldn’t force out any words. Even though the name was in his head, scrolling, blinking, screaming to be let out. To be revealed at long last. It was only Jared gently squeezing his fingers in reassurance that had Jensen blurting, “Mr. Benson. My previous foster parent. Before Sam.”

“An Alpha who I’m guessing robbed you of your virginity. Also fucked you through a heat, too, I bet.” Statements, not questions. Truths. “Probably fucked you through more than one.”

They’d just reached the store, so Jensen loosened his fingers from Jared’s. Before he could slip in through the double doors, he heard Jared say, “You’re not making this walk anymore, Jen. Me or Chad will do it from now on. Or Cal can.”

Doors sliding shut behind him, Jensen nodded in affirmation. In relief.

*

The photo was old, worn around the edges. It was creased through the middle, through both the length and width, the resulting white lines of damage evidence of the number of times the photo had been folded with care throughout the years. Folded into something more compact and easier to carry.

It was a four by six of a young woman with a sallow complexion, just a girl really, holding a towheaded baby on her hip, she no more than late teens, he just an infant. Her arm under his butt provided support for the little boy’s body and he had his head snuggled under her chin, sleeping face turned towards the camera, eyes Jared knew to be green tightly closed. One of his little legs was hid behind her back, the other in front of her, resting safely above the big swell of her pregnant belly.

This was the only photo in existence of Jared, Jensen and Sarah, all together. There wasn’t one that included the three of them plus Jeb, though once upon a time there had been a few of Jared, Jeb and Sarah. Before Jared had destroyed them all, thrown them away or they’d just become lost in time.

Those types of pictures hadn’t been worth holding onto. But this photo here was. It was different.

Different because it was of Jensen. Because it was of _Jared and Jensen_. The Irish twins. Sarah was nothing more than the background, washed out and faded. The most interesting part of her were the red track marks marring the pale skin on the inside of the arm which hung down by her side. Other than that, she was nothing more than striped wallpaper.

Jared folded the picture back up into fourths and tucked it into his wallet for safekeeping. He had Jensen himself now, the real thing, but the photo would always be important. For years, it was all Jared had of his big brother and it was probably the only baby picture that there was of Jensen. Jensen didn’t have any, else Jared was sure that he’d would’ve shared them over the last few weeks that they’d spent getting to know each other.

One day, Jared would gift the picture to Jensen. Considering that he planned to _always_ be a part of Jensen’s life in the future, the picture would remain Jared’s as well.

Before all that could happen, however, Jared still had to explain to Jensen just who they were to each other. With a sigh, he shoved himself off the couch. Irritated, he kicked the leg of the crackhead spread out asleep in the middle of the living room floor.

“Get the fuck up and go wash your ass,” Jared said when Larry blinked awake and blearily peered up at him. “You fucking reek.”

This shithole that they were in was technically Larry’s and, as such, Jared should probably respect the man in his own space. But Jared did what he wanted here, whenever he wanted, since Larry was being paid by Jared, in free crack, to rent this place in his name for the crew’s use and since it was Jared who paid all the bills each month.

Securing this house had been a necessity, a sign of progress. The first brick had been broken down in the kitchen of the house shared by Chris, Danneel, Misha and Aldis, but Jared had moved operations to this new location after purchasing their second brick.

_Don’t shit where you sleep_. JD’s number two rule. Disregarding it one too many times was the reason he’d ended up behind bars and Chad taken by CPS.

As Larry stumbled down the hall to the bathroom, the rancid smell of unwashed body and piss trailing in his wake, Jared went to the kitchen. Empty boxes of baking soda littered the counter next to the stove, spread out on top of the cellophane wrap that the coke had come out of. Chad was at the sink, just flipping a dripping wet, craggy, off-white disc out the bottom of a pot and onto his splayed open fingers.

Each person in the crew had their job. Jared and Chad were at the top of the chain, co-captains. In the future, the plan was that they would be the ones calling the shots and buying the bricks in bulk rather than the ones breaking them down and selling. Their blood relationship to JD guaranteed that. But since they were still up and coming, and far too young to garner any type of respect from the old heads, it was necessary at the moment that they get their hands dirty with the inner workings of the drug trade to prove themselves. JD felt the experience and comprehensive knowledge was invaluable and would contribute to their success.

So, in addition to his position as co-captain, Chad was responsible for breaking the bricks down into smaller sections, selling several of those sections to other dealers, then transforming the coke the crew kept into crack. Jared broke down and bagged the crack and was also responsible for managing their money. They both sold the shit out on the street, right alongside Aldis and Danneel, Chris providing them all with protection.

And Misha... 

Well, Misha was everyone’s responsibility. They hadn’t been there to protect him for a variety of reasons that fateful night he’d been beaten and raped while in heat by a group of Alphas who were rivals of JD (Chad in foster care, the rest of the crew busy with just trying to survive). That night had ended up shoving Misha over an edge that he’d already been toeing for some time, so now they all took care of him in thanks for all of the years that he’d looked out for them. It was easy enough, since he rarely ventured outside the confines of his bedroom.

Schizophrenia was no joke. Especially since there was no such thing as regular medical attention in their world.

“You remembered not to use too much soda this time?” Jared asked when Chad handed him the crack cookie.

They’d gotten several complaints recently that their shit was cut with too much baking soda. The very first time had been perfect and Jared was hoping for a repeat of that first time now.

Grim, Chad reassured, “It’s good. Beta here, not a dumb ass knothead or wetass.”

Jared just flipped Chad the bird, rather than remind him that it was Jared who’d shown him how to cook up the coke to begin with, resulting in that first masterpiece. The next failures had been all Chad.

Sitting at the kitchen’s rickety wooden table, Jared got to work slicing the cookie and bagging. About an hour later, he hit the streets with a backpack full of tiny two inch by two inch red baggies, their crew’s signature color, each containing a couple of the rocks their customers liked to call Jelly Beans.

He felt no qualms about leaving Chad behind to clean up by himself. Especially since Jared had given Larry a hit of crack to not only test Chad’s work, which Larry deemed good, but to also pay him. Larry’s high ass was now singing at the top of his lungs and gyrating against the couch, the floor, the air.

Pretty soon, he’d be looking for a warm body. Chad could deal with that.

After making his rounds to load Aldis and Danneel back up, Jared took up residence on the corner that was his. He’d picked this spot solely because it put everyone else in his line of sight, just how he liked. 

Made it easier to abide by rules one and three when he could see Danneel way down the way, sitting on the crumbled half brick wall she favored, her cowboy booted feet idly swinging as she alternated between playing around on her phone and serving. And when he could see Aldis and Chris standing by their normal stop sign not too far from Danneel, where Aldis sold and Chris kept look out for the cops.

Very early on in this life, Jared had learned the importance of rules. There were Morgan’s six that he followed and made sure the crew did, too:

1) Family takes care of family  
2) Don’t shit where you sleep  
3) Stay alert  
4) Always carry more than one weapon, the one you allow your enemies to know about and the one you don’t  
5) Negotiate when needed, but never snitch  
6) Never show weakness

Then there was Jared’s own personal rule. Just one. But it was important to him, so important that no one had questioned him when he’d instituted it from the very start of them doing this. They all knew his history, had histories not quite so dissimilar themselves, so they all had agreed.

_No selling to young mothers, pregnant women/Omegas or kids. Ever._

The junkies all knew about Jared’s rule, too. When the crew had left the territory belonging to JD a couple weeks ago to set up operation in this unclaimed, adjacent area, their rule had been made clear. Just solid, unyielding _No_ s to the first few to approach who were on the off limits list and the rest had just taken care of itself. Word had quickly spread, carried on the noxious drug fumes emanating from one crackhead’s mouth to curl in whispy tendrils of smoke into the next’s ear.

Which was why Jared couldn’t understand the slight, lisping body he could see coming right at him. A teenage Omega no older than Jared. But while Jared was the one selling the poison, the Omega was out looking to score.

An Omega who, going by his big belly that led the way, was expecting soon. God, he was young, too young to already be so fucked up.

Young like Sarah had been.

Soon as he was within earshot, before he could start with the nonsensical babbling so typical of addicts, Jared barked, “Get the fuck outta here.”

The Omega stopped short, surprised. But then he stretched out a thin arm out towards Jared anyway, undaunted, a couple bills crumbled up in his fist. “B-b-but I have money. See? I _have_ money. I can pay.”

“Look, you really need to fuck off. I’m not selling to you. No one will over here.”

“But I can pay.”

“Not the point.”

“I need it. _Please_.” Dropping to his knees, he said, “I’ll suck your—”

Jared snapped. He grabbed the Omega by the throat, fingers pressed deep into tender flesh sweaty with the first signs of withdrawal. There were no fucks for Jared to give as the Omega gasped for breath, his face turning a blotchy shade of red from lack of oxygen. Not even a single fuck for his unborn child.

The Omega didn’t care for his baby, so why should Jared?

Fuck, Jared would probably be doing the baby a favor by killing it in utero. Had to be better than whatever life its mom would doom it to. A life that could potentially mirror Jensen’s, taken by a system that had then failed him by letting a fucking rapist foster him. Where once Jared had thought that Jensen’s fate had been no worse than his own, different though it had been, he knew the truth now. Jensen had definitely suffered far worse than Jared ever had.

“Jay!” Chris yelled, voice fast approaching, but still some distance away. “Jay, let him go!”

Jesus, fuck, was this what Sarah had been like when she’d been pregnant with Jared? _When she’d been pregnant with Jensen_?

Offering blowjobs in exchange for a fix?

Jared was going to fucking _kill_ her. Sarah didn’t deserve to live. She didn’t. Not after what she’d—

“Fucking let him go, Jared!” This time Chris’s demand came from much closer and with the punch of his body colliding with Jared’s to accompany it.

And then the Omega was down on the ground on his knees, released from Jared’s hold only because Chris was grappling with Jared. The Omega sucked in deep gulps of air to fill his starved lungs, skinny fingers clutching his bruised neck. This young, pregnant Omega who _was not_ Sarah.

“Turn me fucking loose,” Jared growled, yanking himself free from Chris. “And, you,” he spat at the pale Omega at his feet, who was now scrambling to pick up the bills he’d dropped, “don’t come around here ever again, not even after that baby is born. _Especially_ not after that baby is born. You want to get high, then take your ass around the corner and go choke on Russian dick and hope your ass doesn’t end up kidnapped afterwards and sold into prostitution overseas.”

Stalking off down the street, in the direction of the bus stop that would take him back to Jensen, Jared shoved his backpack into Chad’s arms on the way. Jared wasn’t sure at what point Chad had ventured out the house or how much he’d seen of the exchange. It must’ve been enough, though, going by the concerned look on his face.

That was almost enough to give Jared pause. The entire situation was, really. At first, the prospect of the money to be made had excited him and motivated him to get out here whenever he could. In just a few, short weeks, however, he’d come to hate what he did, to loathe it with all his heart, the destructive part he played in tearing families apart, the little red bags of death he sold that rendered people moral less and remorseless.

He’d seen a girl get punched in the face for her drugs, drugs she’d just bought from _Jared_. He’d seen a guy get stabbed in the arm for the same thing.

He’d seen…

...too much.

_Why was he out here_?

But Jared knew why. If it wasn’t him, then it would be someone else. Supply and demand. At least he had a hard line where others didn’t.

More importantly, he was out here preparing for the future.

A future that had little to do with succeeding JD, with Chad at his side. But more with saving enough money to live a life worth actually living, a life where he could sleep at night, free of guilt, with Jensen next to him instead.

“Going back to Sam’s.” The explanation tossed over his shoulder to Chad was the only one Jared gave.

No one came after him. No one demanded to know more. Damn good thing, too. Or shit probably would’ve ended a lot worse, ended with Jared bodily taking out his pent-up aggression on his crew.


	3. Chapter 3

“Can I _help_ you?”

Jared had just walked by Jensen’s door, only to quickly backtrack and fill it up, prompting Jensen’s question. He stood there, broad shoulders stretching from the casing on one side to the casing on the other, mouth hanging open.

“Brooklyn, ask Jared if there’s something we can help him with,” Jensen said when Jared continued on gaping like an idiot.

“Can we _help_ you?” The question came out with just the right amount of snark, making Jensen proud. He was teaching his two girls well, showing them how to speak up. Necessary skills.

Both Ellie and Brooklyn were just in grade school, Ellie in the fifth grade while Brooklyn was still in the third. From the long faces Ellie had been coming home with all year long, Jensen was sure that some of the kids in her class had started to make fun of her for being a foster, though she never so much as admitted anything of the sort was going on. It was something about that transition from fourth to fifth grade that made elementary aged kids go from being sweet accepting angels to horrible little devil shits. Jensen remembered how that time had been for himself all too well, so he knew what Ellie was dealing with. He had quickly made it his goal to ensure the girls were adequately equipped to verbally spar in defense of themselves after witnessing tears staining Ellie’s face twice, which was two times too many in his opinion.

After delivering her perfectly pitched question, Brooklyn dissolved into giggles. Jensen smiled, because what could he do. She was still a work in progress.

“You’re braiding her hair,” Jared finally managed to force out, voice amazed. Like he’d just discovered that Jensen could speak ten different languages. All at the same time. While tap dancing naked. And on one foot.

Jensen threaded a row of colorful beads on the end of the plait he’d just finished, securing them in place with a small rubber band at the end. “Technically, I’m cornrowing it.”

“But, how did you, when—”

“Brook’s not the first foster sister I’ve had, Jay, nor is she the first black one.”

“Huh,” Jared breathed. “You really do love the girls.”

“So much.”

Jared ducked his head. “And what about me?”

In some way or another, Jensen loved all of his siblings from over the many years and many foster homes he’d been in. It was very rare that he allowed himself to dwell on most of them, though, because he’d never see them again. One he’d definitely never see unless he made a trip to the cemetery to visit her and another unless he drove down south to visit him at Memphis Federal Correctional Institution, which Jensen saw himself doing exactly never.

But Jared...

He was the one that Jensen was finding himself loving, “The most.”

Head raised, Jared locked gazes with Jensen. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Jensen’s breath hitched after his single word confession.

Brooklyn jumped up from her spot on the floor between Jensen’s legs, breaking the intense moment between them when she threw her arms around Jensen’s neck, holding on with a death grip. After blowing a raspberry on her neck, Jensen tickled her sides, something that never failed to make her let go as she squirmed to get away, and this time was no different. Bounding out the room, she paused only long enough to give Jared a brief one armed hug around his waist in response to him telling her that he liked her hair.

Jensen flopped backwards onto his bed, resigned to another boring Saturday at home. There was an end of the year party that a group of the popular kids from school were throwing that night he’d been thinking of going to, just to have something to do. School wasn’t over for another week yet and everyone who was anyone was going to be at this party and talking about it on Monday. It would be nice to feel included for once.

Although he knew Jared was probably on his way out to go wherever it was that he and Chad disappeared to so often, Jensen figured there was no harm in asking if Jared would go with him. He pushed up on an arm, so that he was on his side and facing Jared. “Wanna go to that party with me tonight? The one that everyone’s been talking about?”

But before Jared could answer, Chad showed up behind him, slapping his back. “C’mon, Jay, let’s go do this.” With a wink, Chad directed to Jensen, “Looking real good there, Jenny, baby.” He let out a loud oomphf when Jared elbowed him and shoved him down the hall. “Yo, uncalled for, dude. Totally uncalled for.”

“You only got what was coming to you. You know Jensen doesn’t like to be called Jenny, so stop your bitching, bitch,” Jared said. To Jensen, “Sorry, have plans with Chad already.”

“It’s cool.”

“But... maybe we can do something later?”

“Maybe.” Jared turned around, about to follow after Chad, when Jensen took a deep breath and added, “Actually, Jared? I’d... I’d _really_ like that. If we could do something together later.”

“Yeah, okay. Good.” Then Jared was gone.

And Jensen didn’t have time to think any more on his boring Saturday because Ellie had just barged into his room begging that he make her hair pretty, too. So Jensen watched Youtube videos with Ellie on Sam’s laptop about how to mermaid braid and practiced on her silky strands until he got it perfect.

It was while Jensen was standing in the kitchen much later, drinking a glass of OJ, that Jared came back, minus Chad. The light was still shining outside when he strode through the front door, nowhere near time for curfew. Jared and Chad didn’t head out every night, Sam wouldn’t allow that, but on those nights that they did leave, they stayed out until the last possible minute. Actually, there was only one other time that Jensen could remember Jared coming home early at all. And Jared had been very off kilter that day, slinging himself down on the couch next to Jensen, almost on top of him. He’d refused to say anything and Jensen hadn’t asked any questions, not even to inquire about Chad’s whereabouts.

Jensen knew dangerous when he saw it.

“Where’s Chad?” Jensen asked.

“Around. Better question is, don’t we have a party to get to?”

And that pulled a surprised smile from Jensen. Jensen was even further surprised when Jared led him down the street and around the corner to an old, rusted out Bronco that was parked just out of sight of Sam’s house.

“It’s a friend’s,” Jared said in reply to Jensen’s lifted eyebrows. “Don’t worry, she’s safe. Promise.”

“Yeah, but do you even have a license?”

“Really wanna know?”

“Probably not, huh?” With a firm _fuck you_ to his reservations, Jensen climbed in. They came roaring back a few moments later, full throttle, when Jared disregarded his instruction to turn left at the end of their street. Instead, Jared drove them to an entrance ramp for the interstate. “Jay? You missed the turn.”

“Nah, I know where I’m going.”

“But the party—”

“We’re going to _a_ party, just not to _that_ party.”

“Oh, okay.” Jensen forced down his fears, swallowed them whole. He was safe, he told himself. Because _Jared was safe_. He settled into his seat, cracked leather poking him in the back, then asked, “Could you be any more of a cryptic asshole?”

But Jared just laughed, carefree and loud. And that put Jensen completely at ease.

Half an hour later found them pulling into the parking lot of an apartment in a rundown neighborhood. It wasn’t one of the neighborhoods that ranked in the top ten most dangerous places to live in the United States (how Detroit ended up with multiple spots couldn’t be too much of a wonder for anyone who’d ever spent any time in the city), but it wasn’t too far removed from them either. In both location and overall feeling of safety. The neighborhood was in a sad state of decay.

And Jensen was certain the guy propped up against the side of the complex’s overflowing dumpster was drunk. Or high.

Maybe even dead.

“Where are we?” Jensen asked.

Jared hopped out the truck. Just before the door slammed shut behind him, he answered, “Home.”

Deep inside, Jensen had to admit that he felt sort of... honored? He didn’t really know the right word, he just knew that it made him feel _something_ that Jared had brought Jensen to the place where he’d come from. Was sharing this part of himself with Jensen.

Thinking on it a few seconds more, Jensen realized just what it was that he felt. The exact thing that he’d wished to feel just earlier that very day: Included.

Jensen scrambled out the Bronco, rushing after Jared before his long legs could carry him too far away. He caught up just as Jared rounded a corner. “Is this where you and Chad always disappear off to?”

“Yeah, sometimes, but most times we go to another place that’s not too far from here.” Jared graced Jensen with one of those deep dimpled grins that Jensen found himself adoring more and more each day. “C’mon, I have some people that I want you to meet.”

As they approached the rear of the building, Jensen could hear a sizeable group of kids yelling and screaming, having fun. Seconds later, they reached the expanse of yard in the back that was more dirt than grass, where they found the noisemakers.

“Jared!” was screamed out by both boys and girls alike, then Jared and Jensen were surrounded. The kids were of all races and of varying ages. They weren’t the most well-dressed, or the cleanest, but they tugged at Jensen’s heartstrings, regardless.

Jensen knew next to nothing about where he’d come from, just that his mother’s name was Sarah Ackles. And he only had that small nugget of knowledge because it was printed on his birth certificate. His father’s identity was unknown because that spot had been left blank. These kids right here probably would’ve been Jensen had he not been placed in the care of the state at such a young age. They _were_ Jared.

With a shrug, Jared said to Jensen, “So, hey, it’s my buddy here Pablo’s b-day today—” He bent down and lifted into his arms a smallish Hispanic boy of about five or six who had a thumb stuck deep in his mouth “—and I thought it would be so cool if we could celebrate it with him and his friends.”

Which sent Jensen’s mind reeling. It was amazing, really, how Jared seemed to just _get_ him. Because Jensen would definitely rather be here, with Jared and these kids, than out drinking and socializing with the asshats they went to school with every day.

Jensen nodded his head several times to show his agreement. “Definitely sounds like a cool plan to me.”

Lowering Pablo to the ground, Jared said, “I say we start off with a game of—”

“Mother May I,” one little girl interrupted.

“Red Light, Green Light,” a boy chimed in.

“Freeze Tag!” Pablo removed his thumb long enough to shout.

“Freeze Tag, it is,” Jared agreed, then tagged Pablo on the shoulder. “And you’re it!”

Laughing, the kids took off, running around in circles. Jared and Jensen both let themselves get frozen at least once by each of the kids who were _it_ , each tagging the other back in by unspoken agreement. Freeze Tag turned into a hilarious rendition of Telephone (seriously, these kids needed their ears cleaned, stat), which was followed by Hide and Seek.

During the latest round, Jared was _it_. There weren’t very many good places to hide, so Jensen satisfied himself with standing on the side of the apartment building. He was less hidden and more out of direct sight.

When Jared came jogging around the corner, Jensen didn’t even try to get away, just stood there and waited for Jared to get closer. While his pace slowed, Jared didn’t stop, he just kept on coming.

And something just sort of _shifted_ between them, clicked into place. It was palpable. A permission granted to take things further between them, heat or no heat to urge them on, that Jensen hadn’t even been aware he’d been waiting on. Next thing Jensen knew, Jared was in front of him, hands splayed out on the wall next to Jensen’s head, bracketing Jensen in. Jensen didn’t know who moved first, him or Jared, but suddenly Jared’s lips were on his or his were on Jared’s.

Just... they were kissing. Hard and desperate. But so right. Jensen’s hands fisted in Jared’s shirt collar, holding Jared in place, while Jared licked into his mouth.

Jared pulled back and stared deep into Jensen’s eyes. Silent seconds ticked by. Then, “Yeah? This what we doing?”

“Yeah.”

Jared was kissing Jensen again before the word was fully out of Jensen’s mouth. He worked a hand between them, cupped Jensen through his jeans, causing Jensen to go from half-hard to steel. They both knew that this had to be quick. Else the kids would stumble upon them.

With strong, purposeful strokes, Jared brought Jensen to the edge. Forced him over it. Jensen’s body stiffened, wet heat pulsing into his underwear. His hitching gasps were swallowed whole by Jared as soon as they left his throat.

“Oh, my God,” Jensen breathed into Jared’s mouth, jittery and shocky. A grind of his hips and Jensen could feel Jared’s cock, how hard it was. “Jared, please let me—”

“Fuck, yes,” Jared interrupted. He buried his face in Jensen’s neck. “But, look, Jensen, there’s something—”

“ _Jared_!” The voice which called out Jared’s name was approximately the same octave as Ellie’s, but managed to carry one hundred times more exasperation than Jensen had ever heard from his foster sister. It caused them to immediately separate. “We’re all waiting for you to come find us! Tell him, Jensen!” The little brown haired girl was named Liyah, but Jensen had renamed her Agnes in his head since her ponytail stuck straight up in the air, just like the youngest girl from Despicable Me.

“I’ll be back there to find you all in just a second, sweetheart. Just go ‘round back with Jensen, ‘kay, and I’ll be there before you know it.” Voice strained, Jared said, “Jensen, take her back to the others, please. I... I need a minute.”

Jensen did as asked, since he was in better shape, even if only marginally, Liyah chattering the whole way. The sticky mess in his underwear made for an extremely uncomfortable walk. The happiness he felt in his heart, _in his soul_ , more than made up for it.

*

While he wasn’t exactly sure what caused him to jerk awake, Jared had his top list of contenders. It was either the pounding in his head or the ache in his stomach.

Surprisingly, neither was caused by being hung over, though the last thing he remembered was being with the crew and consuming a whole hell of a lot of liquor in honor of their success. They were on brick number five and they each had a hefty amount of money stashed away in sock drawers or under lumpy mattresses to show for it, even Misha.

They’d hit the streets early that morning, business as usual, then had taken the rest of the day off to celebrate. Which included draining the three bottles of Vodka that Larry had purchased for them.

No, these pains weren’t Jared suffering the effects of getting shit-faced. They had been caused by fists. He was sure of it.

Wracking his brain, Jared tried to piece together his last few actions. He’d gone outside to take a piss against the side of their rented house since Danneel had been up in the bathroom doing who the fuck knew what for a long ass time and he couldn’t be bothered to hold it. He’d just tucked himself back in when a sharp pain had exploded in his stomach, followed by the one in his right temple.

Then he’d woken up here, wherever here was. Sitting on a hard ass chair. With a foggy brain.

Chad...

Chad had come out, too, hadn’t he. Had been relieving himself right next to Jared, laughing as he recounted the time Jensen had gotten sloshed with him and Sam’s cruel punishment the next day of making it _Talk As Loud As You Can Day_ for the girls. There had apparently been plenty of excited shrieks and the end result for Jensen and Chad had been stabbing headaches of the excruciating kind.

Yeah, Chad had definitely been there. So where was he now?

Jared looked around the room he was in as much as he could, trying to locate Chad. He was sure he was in a warehouse of some sort, because it just felt big and open around him. There wasn’t any way to confirm his guess, however, because it was dark and he couldn’t see more than a few feet in any direction. Nothing to the right was visible at all as Jared couldn’t turn his head too far that way without wanting to vomit. So he pushed down his queasiness and tried to stand up instead so that he could physically go find Chad. 

It was only then that Jared discovered something very important. He was _restrained_ to his seat. By plasticuffs. One on each wrist. And each ankle.

“It’s no good, Jay.” And it appeared that Jared had managed to find Chad without having to move at all. That was Chad’s voice carrying over to him from several feet away. “I already tried. You’re not getting out of those.”

“Who?” The anger in Jared’s voice wasn’t disguised, because he hadn’t tried to hide it. He didn’t give a fuck who might be within earshot. He just wanted to know who’d fucking taken them.

Probably the fucking Russians. Bastards hadn’t confronted the crew directly for setting up shop so close to them, but the crackheads talked. And Jared listened whenever they did.

The Russians weren’t happy.

“Don’t know.”

Bright light suddenly flooded the room, blinding Jared. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision. When he could finally see, he discovered that Chad was nearby, restrained to his own seat. He appeared unharmed for the most part, aside from the nasty bruise blooming on his left cheek.

Any relief Jared might have felt, and he wasn’t feeling very much at all to be quite honest, was short lived.

They were being kept in a clearing of what was, indeed, a warehouse. All around them were metal shelves containing hundreds and hundreds of big cardboard boxes. The shelves reached all the way to the high ceiling. And Jared’s suspicion was that the boxes contained TVs, computers, laptops and other big ticket electronics.

His head dropped forward, chin meeting his chest, as he swallowed hard to stop his rising nausea from winning its valiant effort to make him sick. This was _not good_. _Not good_ at all.

JD owned several warehouses just like this. Jared hadn’t been to them all, but there was one warehouse in particular he knew about that JD used for more than just the storing of his ill-gotten goods. Sometimes, JD took advantage of that warehouse’s secluded location to dispose of an enemy or two.

Jared had seen it happen. Had been involved in several of the clean-ups.

It would only figure that others would use their warehouses for the same dual purposes.

“Finally awake?”

The guy who’d spoken had entered from the left, from a dimly lit doorway that must’ve led to the warehouse’s office space. He was too far away for Jared to get a good look at him, but the clack of dress shoes against the cement floor announced his approach.

His voice...

There was something disturbingly familiar about it, something that caused discomfort in the back of Jared’s mind. Jared recognized that voice. He _knew_ who this person was, even if he couldn’t readily make the connection.

Finally, a pair of black, leather loafers came into sight. Finely made. Probably Italian. And the black slacks covering the top of them were also probably Italian. As was the belt threaded through the slack’s loops. And the tucked in green button-down dress shirt

There was only one person Jared knew who had such expensive taste.

Jared let his eyes trail that last bit higher. Met an amused set of light blues.

Fuck, no. No, no, no.

This was past just _not good_. This was about betrayal. But it would soon be about revenge. And those two were a phenomenally bad combination that had brought about many deaths in many situations since the beginning of time. Add in JD as the one seeking retribution, and the consequences were sure to be deadly and far reaching. 

“ _Matt_?” Chad’s voice reflected the same exact shock that coursed through Jared right at that very moment.

“ _Chad_ ,” was tossed back sarcastically as Matt stopped right in front of them, hands clasped out of sight behind his back. “Well, would you look at that. Both the Prodigal Sons.”

“Except we didn’t leave to do bad things. Bad things are what we came back home for.” Jared made sure to keep his voice hard. Not abiding by the rules was the reason they were in this mess to begin with. They hadn’t stayed alert, had let liquor dull their senses. But Jared was determined to follow the rest now, determined to get him and Chad both out of this. “You kill us and JD _will_ murder you.”

Matt just laughed at the threat. “Rule number six. Never show weakness. Always did have a love, hate relationship with that one. Like, who can seriously remain strong, even in the face of their death. I mean, if someone can, more power to them, ‘cause that’s totally bad ass, but, seriously, _who_ is capable of that.”

“Why are you doing this?” Chad sounded close to tears. Too close. It was understandable, really. This was the first time Chad had laid eyes on Matt in six years, someone who he used to trust implicitly and completely. Someone he’d imagined himself in love with at the tender age of ten and with all the confused, tangled emotions that little boys experienced with their first crushes. But this was not the time to show vulnerability.

If the way Matt regarded Chad was anything to go by, it was too late. He’d already taken notice of Chad’s shortcomings, just as Jared had.

That was dangerous. Almost like Chad had hand delivered Matt a nicely wrapped gift to play with. To exploit to his heart’s content.

Jared needed to get the attention back on himself. And to keep it there.

“You’re supposed to be out, man.” Jared shot Chad a warning look, hoping he understood the silent directive to shut his fucking mouth and to just let Jared handle this. “Who’re you working for?”

Speculative, Matt’s gaze focused on Jared. “Why? Gonna offer me more money?”

“Just say how much.”

“Negotiation. Which rule is that? Five, right?”

“I have enough money to pay you twice as much or can get my hands on it, easy. JD never even has to know about this. It can stay between us.”

The snort Matt let out was cynical. “Stay between us until when, Jay? ‘Til you track me down one night and put a bullet in my head?”

“I wouldn’t—”

“You and I both know that you would. I raised you those five years JD was on lockdown and it’s what I _taught_ you to do.”

So Matt recognized that Jared was the bigger threat here. That was something Jared could work with. If he could convince Matt to let Chad go, then that just left Jared himself to worry about when he fought himself out of this. And that was definitely a _when_ he fought himself out of this versus an _if_ , because Jared would be throwing punches if Matt made the mistake of freeing him rather than just flat out offing him.

Jared had way too much to live for to die right now. Fuck the drugs, fuck JD, fuck his crew. Fuck everything. None of it mattered to Jared. _None of it_.

The _only_ thing that mattered to him was Jensen. Jensen, the Omega Jared planned to claim as his own. Jensen, the Omega Jared planned to _mate_ during Jensen’s next heat.

For Jensen, it had only been a few weeks since they’d met. But for Jared, for Jared, it had been much, much longer. It had been a lifetime apart. It had been two whole years that he’d watched Jensen from afar, so close, yet still so far away, not even revealing himself to Chad on those many furtive visits he’d made to Sam’s house, before CPS had intervened and, along with JD’s help, given Jared direct access to his heart’s fondest desire. Given him direct access to the one thing he’d been scared to seek out for himself, lest he ruin it somehow, but also too selfish to leave alone, his big brother.

It had been a Sunday when JD had unequivocally changed Jared’s life with just three simple words— _I found him_. That day had started out as just a normal day, an average day of Jared visiting JD in jail, something he’d done several times. It had ended with a stunned Jared, with Jared having a purpose.

 _Jensen_.

The main driver behind all of Jared’s actions now was Jensen. Everything Jared did was for him, including the poison he sold. After he mated Jensen, Jared planned to take him away, because he knew neither Chad, nor JD would approve. That they would try to stop them.

Because what they were doing was _sick_. Because Jared was _sick_. He was the one who knew their true relationship to each other, after all.

But Jared needed Jensen. And Jensen needed Jared.

So that meant Jared had to escape this situation. That he had to escape this life. With Jensen at his side.

“Keep me, then,” Jared said, “but let Chad go.”

“Rule one. You’re really on a roll right now. I like it. But it’s not for me to decide.” Matt dug out his cell from the back pocket of his pants, then spent a few seconds tapping on the screen. Loud trills sounded from the phone’s speaker, echoing through the warehouse.

“Got an update for me?” JD’s voice boomed after the second ring.

“They were sloppy, easy to sneak up on. Too drunk to notice anyone coming. Fact is, they could’ve both been taken out at the same time. They would’ve been dead before they even knew what hit them and their friends wouldn’t have had one fucking clue as to what the hell happened.”

And Jared understood. A set-up. This had all been a fucking set-up. JD’s fucked way of testing them or some shit. They weren’t going to die.

Jared breathed out a sigh of relief, let his head fall backwards. He jerked back upright with a groan as pain radiated out from his still sensitive temple. 

“And? If those two assholes know what’s good for them, then there had better be a god damned _and_ coming.”

“And—” Matt’s gaze flicked back and forth between Jared and Chad. “—they did better, once we got back to the warehouse.” His eyes connected with Jared’s, held. “Or, I should say that Jay did, although...”

“Don’t have time for your melodramatics, Matt. Just get the fuck on with it.”

“I only found one weapon on him, just his gun.” Matt shrugged, which Jared interpreted as an apology for ratting him out about breaking the fourth rule.

JD let loose a sharp bark of laughter. “You just be glad that you didn’t let him get his hands on you, then, else you would’ve discovered firsthand how deadly Jay’s gotten recently with his fists.” Before disconnecting the call, he said, “Chad? Jared? I expect to see you two at my house no later than six tonight. We have _a lot_ of basic reminders to go over apparently, starting with a review of the rules. Especially since you let someone who’s nothing more than a _motherfucking_ civilian nowadays get the drop on you.”

That had been the extremely nice way of saying they were going to get their asses chewed out and handed to them.

“Shit,” Chad muttered, a sentiment Jared wholeheartedly agreed with one hundred percent.

This was all Matt’s fault. Well, really, it was Jared’s and Chad’s, Jared was man enough to own up to his mistakes, but he was also all about shifting the blame to Matt and maybe doling out a little payback. And Matt _had_ to free Jared at some point. All Jared needed to express his unhappiness was access to just one of his arms and for Matt to remain close enough, which didn’t really have to be all that close considering Jared’s considerable reach.

Matt pocketed his phone and traded it out for his infamous, deadly switchblade. “I’m going to cut you two free. Before you go visit JD, though, you’re going to pack up a few trucks with some of this merchandise in here. JD’s got a big buyer lined up.” Matt took a step forward, in Jared’s direction, then stopped. His eyes narrowed on Jared, serious. “Oh, and, Jay?”

“What?”

“You know me well so you know that I’ll never truly be a civilian. You even _think_ about acting on any of those fucked up thoughts going through that big ass head of yours right now and I _will_ shoot you. In the ass. With your own gun. Remember that.”

Fucked up as it was, because the threat wasn’t idle, Jared felt at ease with the man he’d always looked up to. Still looked up to because Matt had done what Jared planned to do himself very soon: Be among the select few smart enough to get out before jail or death got him first.

Aka accomplish the impossible.

But nothing was impossible, really, when Jensen was factored in, was it.

“Aww, Matty, c’mon,” Jared said with a smirk. “You know that I wouldn’t—”

“Five years I raised you,” Matt interrupted. He warily approached. “And I _know_ I taught you good.”

Jared laughed. He had no intentions of touching Matt. If Jared ever considered anyone to be a parent to him, then it was Matt and he knew Matt viewed him as a son. Which meant if there was anyone who would help Jared, and his mate, to disappear, no questions asked, Matt was it.


	4. Chapter 4

Jensen had made his decision. And he wasn’t taking it back, wasn’t backing down. Because, this time? This time doing this was actually a choice.

 _Jensen’s_ choice.

“Nervous?” Jared asked. He stood by the door to the bathroom he’d just exited, drying his hands on a face towel. He only wore a pair of athletic shorts, slung low on his hips, shirt already discarded.

It wasn’t the first time Jensen had seen Jared shirtless. Living in a house together with only two bathrooms, one for the girls, the other for the boys, it was sort of a given that they’d see each other in various states of undress. It was the first time, however, that Jensen allowed himself to appreciate, unfettered. He took in all of Jared, but lingered for just a moment on his dusky nipples, his tight, toned stomach... the thin line of hair which started at his belly button and disappeared into—

“See something you like?” The amusement in Jared’s voice caused Jensen to flush and drop his eyes to the floor. The industrial carpet caused him to jerk them right back up, too stark a reminder of just where they were and why.

Crane’s Roost Inn.

Ninety days had passed since Jensen’s last heat.

“Gonna answer me?”

Ignoring the second question, because the answer was sort of a given, Jensen replied to the first, “I’d be crazy not to be. Aren’t you?”

With care, Jared folded the towel. Leaned back into the bathroom for a moment so that he could place it on the counter, next to the sink. “No.”

Jensen sat down on the edge of the bed. The comforter had a loose string and he gave it his rapt attention. Played with it, rolled it between his fingers. “Are you sure about this?”

“Jensen.” A couple steps, then Jared was right in front of Jensen.

Jensen kept on playing with the string. Ignored Jared. Or, rather, he refused to look up at him because ignoring was sort of an impossibility at the moment. Just wasn’t doable when Jared’s strong scent filled Jensen’s nose with each and every inhale.

Jared.

 _Alpha_.

The groan which escaped Jensen’s throat was involuntary. Flickering flames had been frustrating him since he woke that morning, just a couple hours before, but now, _just now_ , they became the full blown blaze suggesting that his heat had started in earnest. With a quick dart of the tongue, Jensen licked off the sweat he felt building on his upper lip.

“Fuck, you are so gorgeous,” Jared said.

Slick oozed out of Jensen at the compliment. He shifted in discomfort. A wet ass had always been the worst part of his heats, before the mindlessness itself set in, that was. A tangible reminder of who he was. His biological need for Alpha dick.

After swallowing hard, Jensen asked, “Are you sure? That you want to do this, I mean.”

“I made a promise to you. One that I fully intend to keep.”

“What promise?”

“You really trying to tell me—” The tip of a finger hooked under Jensen’s chin, tilted his head up. Forced him to confront Jared’s hungry stare. His slow, cocky grin. “—that you don’t remember?”

Jensen remembered, all right. He’d never forgotten. Couldn’t.

 _Wanna make you mine so bad._ Gonna _make you mine one day._

One day was today.

Jensen’s heat had started that morning, as a low grade fever already present when he woke up, same as it always did. He’d been prepared to hole up in his room, fully ready to spend an agonizing three days there, riding it out, hoping and praying that Jared would provide him with some relief again.

Then Jared had did one better. He’d cornered Jensen, before breakfast. Had stroked Jensen to a shuddering climax in a hall empty of everyone but them, while whispering, _My friend Larry can get us a room. We can do it right this time. Do it all._

The offer had been temptation personified. Having just blown his brains out through his dick, his ass empty and clenching, Jensen had nodded, unable to resist. There was no question this time as to what Jared offered and Jensen wanted it.

Wanted to be knotted.

They’d been out of school on summer break for a couple months, so their excuse to Sam had been as easy as saying they were spending the whole weekend at a mutual friend’s house. Sam didn’t keep track of Jensen’s heats, so there had been no concern on her part with them taking off together.

Chad, however, well, Chad was a different story. Normally, he didn’t keep track of Jensen’s heats, either. But considering that both Jared’s and Jensen’s phones had been ringing and vibrating non-stop since they’d left, quick glances confirming the numerous missed calls and texts to be from Chad, indicated that he knew something was up. They’d ignored Chad, ignored the spark of rationality he tried to interject.

“Actions,” Jensen said, voice little more than a whisper. But still a challenge. “Speak louder than words.”

“Fuck you.” Jared dropped down to a crouch. His hands covered Jensen’s, forced Jensen to let go of the string he’d wrapped around his thumb. Together, they gripped the hem of Jensen’s t-shirt and pulled it over his head, dropped it on the ground next to their feet.

“That’s what I’m trying to get you to do.”

Jared surged up and forward, their mouths joining in a hot, desperate kiss. It was demanding. All rough, probing swipes of Jared’s tongue as he pushed Jensen down to the bed and unbuttoned the cargo shorts Jensen wore. Jared got rid of them with a violent shove and tug. Knowing where they were going, and for what purpose, Jensen hadn’t bothered with underwear.

Without prompting, because he needed this so bad, wanted it, Jensen flipped to his stomach. Scrambled up to hands and knees and looked back at Jared. Begged, “Please.”

“ _Christ_ ,” Jared growled. His thick, heavy cock sprang free when he pushed the elastic bands of his shorts and underwear down beneath it. He kicked them both off altogether. The base of his cock, where the knot would form, was flushed deep red and already slightly engorged.

He climbed up on the bed behind Jensen. There were no fingers this time. They weren’t needed. This wasn’t about a faux knot, but the real deal. One thrust and Jared fully seated himself inside of Jensen.

“Told you, gonna make you mine,” Jared said, voice dark with promise. He snapped his hips, pushed in deep. So deep. Mouth on Jensen’s neck, he tongued the sensitive skin there, slicks laps on Jensen’s pulse point, the place meant for mating marks.

And, fuck, Jensen wanted it. Wanted to be Jared’s. To belong to him.

_Then it can mean whatever we want it to._

“Do it,” Jensen said, head angled to the side.

And Jared must’ve just been waiting on Jensen. To make sure Jensen was of the same mindset as him. Because, no further urging needed, he slid a hand into Jensen’s hair, using the leverage to hold Jensen still as he bit down, hard. His sharp teeth, fangs designed just for this purpose, marking a mate, buried in Jensen’s neck. Same as his cock did in Jensen’s ass.

It was pleasure. And pain. All wrapped up together in one.

An intense orgasm ripped out of Jensen, come pulsing out in long stripes that soiled the bedspread beneath him in pools of white. He shuddered through it and it left him weak, made him want to drop down to his forearms, but he couldn’t. Jared’s bite kept him in place, made him take it, Jared’s claim, all of it. Accept it.

Jared rutted against him, his knot locking them together, preventing him from drawing back all the way. Finally, he pushed in deep and come filled Jensen in slow, thick pulses he could feel.

A wrist was offered to Jensen. Pressed against his mouth. Not a gift that many Alphas gave their Omegas, a chance for Omegas to stake their own claims. Jensen sunk his teeth, much blunter than Jared’s, into Jared’s skin. 

The taste of Jared, the tang of his blood, caused a second orgasm to punch out of Jensen. Not as strong as the first one. But no less intense.

When Jared finally let go of Jensen’s neck, he said, voice hoarse, “You know that we can’t go back now, right?”

Yeah, Jensen knew. Jared was still a few days away from turning seventeen and Jensen a couple months from his eighteenth birthday. Their ages weren’t the issue, though, since they were both over the age of consent in Michigan.

The issue was them being foster-siblings. That carried a stigma to it. One that there was just no getting away from. While Sam no doubt loved them both, as they did her, she probably wouldn’t want them around Cal or the girls anymore. Wouldn’t want to deal with explanations to the kids and definitely not to Social Services, who’d demand to know how’d she fucking let this happen (easier for her overall to just report them as runaways), automatically relegating them all to Jensen’s past.

Chad, they’d still have to see about. He’d possibly be okay with them. Maybe.

It all made Jensen’s heart hurt, but it was okay. Because he also knew just what his future held: Jared.

They were a mated pair. It was done. No regrets, no take backs. And Jensen wasn’t sorry, was offering no apologies.

*

Jared pulled the Bronco into the spot right in front of the door to his and Jensen’s hotel room. He’d just come back from Matt’s, the manila folder Matt had given him sitting dead center on the passenger seat. Inside the folder was something that Matt had been working to obtain for Jared for a couple weeks now. It had all finally come together just that afternoon.

All the necessary paperwork for two people to start new lives together.

A new future for Jared and Jensen.

But, before he could move on to the future, Jared had to first deal with the past. The past who had just jumped up from the curb to his feet when Jared shifted the truck into park.

A sigh escaped Jared. He didn’t really want to do this. Had hoped to make a quick, quiet getaway. Since that was no longer an option, though, better to just get this over and done with. He bent the folder in half, shoved it into the waistband of his shorts, then exited the truck. With a soft click, he shut the door so as not to draw Jensen’s attention to this little situation outside. Hopefully, Jensen didn’t already know and Jared could maybe take care of it with Jensen none the wiser.

“He know you out here?” Jared asked with a nod of his head to the room.

“No.”

“Let’s keep it that way.”

Chad balled his hands into fists. “Fuck you, Jared. Just _fuck you_.”

Arms folded across his chest, Jared leaned back against the Bronco. “Wanna hit me? I’d let you get one in. No less than I deserve.”

The single step Chad took forward spoke volumes about how much he was tempted to take Jared up on his offer. “Have you told him yet?”

“No.”

“Are you going to?”

Jared had thought long and hard about that very question many, many times. Agonized over how to do it. And the answer he’d finally come to, just the night before while knotted tight in Jensen’s ass, was a firm, resolute, “No.”

“Man, you really are something else, you know that?”

With a shrug, Jared said, “I may have heard that before. And worse.”

“Genetic sexual attraction.”

And that was not the response Jared expected. He’d expected to be hit. Or, at the very least, he’d expected threats. Ultimatums. Something along the lines of, _If you don’t tell him, then I will_. “What?”

“The reason you’re attracted to him? Genetic sexual attraction. It’s an honest to God thing. Look it up. Happens sometimes when long lost family members are reunited, especially Alphas and Omegas.”

So it had a name, then. A neat little term to explain it.

Jared dropped his arms. Shoved a hand through his hair. “Doesn’t change anything.”

Attention focused on Jared’s wrist, the one that Jensen had marked, Chad said, “I would say that you should still tell him—”

“Just fucking drop it, Chad. I’m not.”

“But it’s a moot point now, isn’t it.”

Eyes locked with Chad’s, Jared cautiously asked, “So... that mean we good, then?”

“I think what you’re doing is really fucked up and that you’re a complete piece of shit.” Chad’s shoulders slumped and his hands relaxed at his sides, no longer fisted. The fight was completely gone out of him. “But you’re still my cousin.”

“You’re his cousin, too.”

“You’ve made me miserable for a hell of a lot longer and that has to count for something.”

Jared huffed out a laugh at that. “How’d you find us, anyway?”

“You’ve had Chris’s truck since yesterday morning, man. Once he caught whiff that Larry knew where you’d fucked off to, he threatened to take him to rehab. Larry sang like a canary.” A sad smile played along Chad’s lips. Because he hated the red bags of death and destruction as much as Jared did.

With a flick of his wrist, Jared tossed the keys to Chad. “Tell Chris I said thanks, yeah?”

Unsaid was that this was also Jared saying goodbye.

But Chad knew.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you? And taking him with you?” When Jared nodded, Chad pulled him into a hard, fierce hug. “Jesus, you really are fucked up. This whole thing is fucked up.” When Chad finally backed away, there were tears in his eyes. “But you take care of him, Jared. If you don’t, I _will_ find you and I _will_ castrate you myself, balls and knot. _Promise I will_.”

Then Chad took off. It was a long time after he’d gone before Jared entered the hotel room. He may or may not have been waiting for the wetness in his own eyes to dry.

The smell of Jensen’s heat immediately enveloped him. It was only day two, so they still had another full day ahead of them before it was over this time around. Another full day before they could move on and truly start their new lives together.

Hot and flushed, ready for another knotting, Jensen was spread out across the bed. He bitched, “What took you so fucking long? Said you’d only be gone for an hour.”

“Sorry, Dean.” After shedding his clothes and setting the manila folder on the dresser next to the TV, Jared climbed up on the bed, next to Jensen. “Had something unexpected come up.”

The look Jensen gave Jared was full of concern. “Everything okay?”

Amazingly, it was. While what Chad had given wasn’t approval, it was acceptance. “Yeah, yeah, everything’s good.”

Although Jensen looked like he wanted to continue on with that line of questioning, he didn’t. Instead, he asked, “Dean?”

“Winchester. And I’m Sam. Your mate. Our new identities.”

“You left for a couple hours and _came back with new identities for us_?”

In the simplest of terms, that’s exactly what Jared had done. In reality, it was much more complex than that, and had involved time, planning and money. “I want us to have a fresh start together, a new life. With no preconceived notions of who we are or where we come from. Nothing at all to haunt us or hold us back. Not even the foster sibling thing.”

Or the biological sibling thing, either. That Jensen still didn’t know about. And would never know about, if Jared had his way, because it would irrevocably rip them apart.

“Dean Winchester.” Jensen sounded out the name slow, like he was testing it, weighing it on his tongue. “It’s different.” He pulled Jared down for a deep kiss. Breathed into his mouth, “But I like it.”

Jared had a secret. A big ass, world altering secret.

But what Jensen didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, would it.

*

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